China Locks Down Area around World’s Largest iPhone Factory

On Wednesday, Chinese authorities locked down the area surrounding the world’s largest iPhone factory after workers had fled the facility to avoid COVID-19 restrictions.

The economic zone of central China's Zhengzhou Airport, where Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn operates a huge factory, entered seven days of "steady management" on Wednesday, local officials said in a statement, to use a euphemism for lockdown.

Pictures surfaced last week on Chinese social media showing people pulling out of the Foxconn facility, which employs hundreds of thousands of workers.

Employees were complaining online about poor conditions and having to flee the factory on foot to avoid COVID-19 transportation restrictions.

Officials said Wednesday that all people except for COVID prevention volunteers and essential workers "must not leave their residences except to receive COVID tests and emergency medical treatment."

They only added medical vehicles and those who provide essentials will be allowed to take to the streets.

China is the last major economy committed to a zero-COVID strategy persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing, and prolonged quarantine in an effort to stem emerging disease outbreaks.

However, the new variables tested local officials' ability to snuff out flare-ups faster than they could spread, causing much of the country to live under an ever-changing mosaic of COVID-19 restrictions.